[dove gray chevron]

Chevron is currently having a moment. It’s zigzagging it’s little self everywhere from clothing & accessories to stationary & furniture! Lucky for me because I love the simplicity and crispness of this classic geometric pattern.

After googling “how to paint a chevron pattern” I came across this post that gave me some tips to get started. I ended up using my own measurements and method though.

Here is what you’ll need. I picked up all of this at Michael’s:

1 11×14″ canvas

1 bottle of black acrylic paint

1 bottle of white acrylic paint

1 disposable cup to mix paint in [not pictured]

1 sponge brush [mine was included in a brush kit that was approx. $5]

1 pencil with a white eraser

tape measure [in retrospect a ruler would have been easier but i don't have one]

artist’s tape

scissors [not pictured]

1. Mark dots at 1-inch increments along the horizontal edge of your canvas. Do the same on the remaining three sides.

2. Take your ruler [i just used the tape, as you can see] and draw horizontal lines corresponding with each dot. Do the same vertically, creating a grid.

3. Pencil in dots where each line intersects like so. This will serve as a guide for where to place the tape for the pattern.

4. Cut a bunch of pieces of tape into 4″ strips so you have them at the ready. Then start chevroning!

Whew! Now we’re done with the hardest part. I started using the grid then ended up eyeballing it. It’s supposed to be a fun project so don’t get too stressed if it’s not perfect!

I folded my tape over the edges so it would form a nice pattern on the sides as well.

Can’t get enough of this pattern.

5. Run a credit card over each edge to be sure the edges are firmly on the canvas then paint* away. Don’t forget to paint the sides too. Let dry completely [or if you're impatient like me, speed it up by using a hairdryer on the lowest setting] and paint a second layer. Let dry overnight before stripping off the tape.

*For my dove gray color I mixed a LOT of white paint with a LITTLE black paint. As a rule of thumb when painting, a little dark goes a long way. It’s much harder to lighten up a dark color then vice versa so go liberal with the white and be more sparing with the dark.

thank you merritt! by the way LOVE your blog. the post on coral pieces was pure eye candy! & great idea to do this project over the holidays when you have some spare time on your hands. would love to see a pic of your masterpiece! happy holidays

hi! that’s awesome! i’m so glad you gave it a whirl. so to erase the pencil marks i’d recommend using a special kind of eraser called a kneaded eraser [available here] or a gum eraser [here]. they are both wonderful – they get practically everything out [charcoal, lead, pastel, you name it] and also don’t leave any residue behind like your typical pencil eraser. let me know how it goes!

Hi Dana, that’s a great idea!! Love it. It would be so easy to do too, just choose the color you would like and sub it in the pattern where you would normally put the gray. Or you could put the color in the negative white space – that may give a nice effect as well. Let me know how it goes!